A hearing entitled Federal Rulemaking and the Regulatory Process that was scheduled for today was postponed because one of the witnesses is ill. The House Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law had scheduled the hearing, the first congressional hearing to focus on regulatory process issues in the Obama administration. OMB Watch's executive director, Gary Bass, was scheduled to testify among others.

The subcommittee had extended to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) an invitation to testify but the administration declined to participate. We don't know if OIRA declined because of scheduling conflicts or other reasons. (Hearings are very often scheduled at the convenience of high-ranking government officials to ensure that key witnesses can appear.)

Here's hoping that the postponement provides another opportunity for the subcommittee to issue an invitation to OIRA, and that the OIRA administrator, Cass Sunstein, will be able to appear. In keeping with the administration's emphasis on transparency and government accountability, a congressional oversight hearing would be a great opportunity for OIRA to highlight its actions, and for Congress to ask questions of the administration. Regulatory oversight hearings rarely occur and the administration should participate when they do occur.

Additionally, we want to extend a “thank you” to the Judiciary Subcommittee for planning an oversight hearing on federal rulemaking. Regulations are about enforcing the laws passed by Congress and ultimately about protecting the public. The Bush administration was widely criticized by the public interest community as favoring less regulation, tilting regulations in favor of industry when it had to regulate, and reducing enforcement of regulations on the books. The Obama administration promised to curb the influence of special interests and get the regulatory machinery moving again to protect health, safety, and the environment.

While a little over one year may be too early to fully assess progress made by the Obama administration, it is appropriate for Congress to provide vigilant oversight.